A Burlington police cruiser parked along Church Street. Photo by Flickr user Richard Ellis/ yercombe.
BURLINGTON — Police have arrested a man in connection with a knifepoint robbery on Church Street early Wednesday morning.
Police say John Brown, 42, approached a man sitting on a bench on Church Street near the intersection with College Street and sat down next to him. After asking the man for a cigarette, Brown allegedly opened a folding knife and held it to the man’s neck.
Brown allegedly told the victim, “I’m going to take your life” and “I’m going to take everything.” Police say Brown took $23 from the man and then fled the scene.
When police arrived, the victim described his attacker as having tattoos on his neck and a swastika tattoo on his calf.
Officers identified the suspect as Brown – they had encountered him earlier in the night while responding to a call he was trying to start fights on Main Street. Police said Brown had been involved in five incidents in the past week.
Officers located Brown walking north on South Winooski Avenue, and attempted to stop him. Brown then turned toward the officer wielding the knife, police say.
The responding officer then pulled his firearm on Brown and ordered him to the ground.
“Mr. Brown took two slow steps towards the officer while holding the open knife and looking at him but then threw the knife to the ground and lay on his stomach,” according to the police statement.
After being taken into custody, Brown was charged with assault and robbery and is being held on $50,000 bail. He has been charged with assaultive crimes 10 times in the state of Vermont and has 12 failures to appear, on top of past charges in Idaho and Utah, according to police.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Police arrest suspect in Church Street knifepoint robbery.